


Arkadia

by qqwweerrttyy19951101



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Wayhaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-01 21:03:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15782067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qqwweerrttyy19951101/pseuds/qqwweerrttyy19951101
Summary: Wake up, Hunt, Survive. Repeat until your dead.Waverly didn't expect to find love in a hopeless place but here she is...falling in love with a stranger. A stranger that might as well be the cause of the world going to shit.





	1. Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> This has elements of Resident Evil and Fallout 4

Waverly surveyed the billowing dust in distaste. Ever since the world turned to shit, she can’t help but find dust everywhere. Tiny microscopic grains of fucking sand that gets into every crevice of your body. It makes Waverly want to claw her own skin off. 

It gets worse the more South they go and they’ve been traveling farther and farther from Purgatory as the weeks pass by. Supplies are becoming scarce, animals know not to travel near their settlement or else they’ll be hunted.

“Alright baby girl, saddle up” Wynonna says beside her, putting the jeep into park beside two other trucks. 

Reaching for her shotgun, she swings herself off the side of the jeep “Where are we anyway?”

“Springfield” Jeremy says, his eyes still on the map in his hands “Just a few hours South of Purgatory”.

“Okay everyone, you know the drill” Dolls grunts “Pan out, anything that we can carry and anything that we will need. Pay close attention to food, gas...”

“Alcohol!” Wynonna interrupts.

But Dolls just spared her a glance before continuing on, “Ammo, clothes, and most importantly, medicine. I want everyone within hearing distance of each other. I don’t want anyone venturing off too far. Let’s meet back here in three hours”

____________________________________________________________________________

She’s drowning again. The clear liquid-like blue gel is suffocating her, irritating her skin. She wants to scratch her arms but she’s suspended. She sees people talking...white lab coats...they look worried…

Pain

Pain

Nicole wakes up with a gasp. Her hands clawing at her neck, her mouth open in an attempt to catch lungfuls of air. Target is used to her waking up in terror so he just moves from his perch and gently lays himself across her lap, waiting for his owner to calm down. He whines in sympathy, clearly feeling Nicole’s distress.

“I’m okay, bud” Nicole eventually says, her heart rate returning to normal as she gently strokes Target’s jet black coat. 

____________________________________________________________________________

“Hey baby girl, you okay?” 

Waverly jumps at Wynonna’s voice, nearly knocking down a shelf “Jesus Nonna, you scared me. And I’m fine. Why?”

“Nothing, you’ve been in a weird mood since we left. Didn’t even want to go into that bookstore we passed. Normally, your nerdy self will be foaming at the mouth”

The younger Earp rolled her eyes, “I’m fine. Just ansty. There’s something off about this place”

Wynonna’s eyes softened, “It’s gonna be fine baby girl, you know Doll’s grade A OCD won’t allow us to go anywhere without recon first.” she jokes, but Waverly knows there’s a hint of truth there. They owe a lot to Dolls, his military background helped them out of sticky situations countless of times. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Waverly murmurs.

Famous last words

____________________________________________________________________________

“What the hell kind of town is named Springfield” Nicole grunts, her feet ached from walking. They needed to find supplies soon or they won’t live past this week. She hears Target panting beside her, she already gave him the last of her water.

____________________________________________________________________________

It was Wynonna who sees it first. Waverly was too preoccupied with her most recent find, condoms. Champ has been annoyingly whiney this past few weeks. She’s been denying having sex with him for quite a while now for various reasons but condoms were a big part of it. She didn’t fancy getting pregnant in their current situation and if Waverly was being honest, she was getting tired of him. It was fun at first. It was the end of the world, he was there and it was great to forget for a bit but now that they found Purgatory, she didn’t really need the distraction anymore. 

She was contemplating whether to just give it to Wynonna or throw it away when her sister grasped her wrist tightly.

Waverly was about to protest when she was pulled inside the truck quickly.

That’s when she sees it.

Crows

A lot of crows

“What the hell…” Waverly breaths out, “What’s wrong with them?” a stab of fear ran down her spine when she sees more crows perching themselves along the building roofs and powerlines.

“I don’t know but I have a bad feeling about this” she signals Dolls to call everyone back.

“Look at their eyes” the younger Earp says as she studies the one the landed on the hood of their car. There was something wrong with them. Their eyes, which was usually black, were sunken and grey “They look infected”

“That’s impossible. The virus doesn’t infect animals” despite Wynonna’s denial, she hears the fear in her sister’s voice. The one good thing that resulted from all of the mess is that the virus didn’t affect animals. That’s how they stayed alive. If the virus is somehow mutating then they were literally screwed. 

The crow caws loudly, startling both Earp sisters.

“Oh fuck” Wynonna curses “We’re surrounded. We need to get out of here” starting her car, she revs the engine but the sound only made the birds agitated. It seems the car moving was a signal for the birds because they started cawing louder.

Waverly gasps in horror as one of the guys that was with them was torn to pieces when a swarm targeted him. That spurred the others to scramble quickly into their vehicles.

“Fuck fuck fuck” her sister say, swerving to avoid a swarm that was trying to shatter their windshield with their body. Unfortunately, swerving made the car tip dangerously. Waverly couldn’t help but scream when their wheels gave out and the car crashed sideways.

The younger Earp groans, holding the part of her head that hit the window glass. Waverly thanks anyone in heaven that she managed to clip her seatbelt or else, she would have crushed her sister. 

The car tipped towards Wynonna’s side and Waverly can see the cuts on Wynonna’s face from where the driver side window shattered on impact. 

“Wynonna” she calls, hitting her sister in the arm to wake her “Wynonna, I’m stuck” she shrieks when a swarm cawed against the cracked windshield. They were still pecking and hitting against it, trying to get at both of them “Fuck, Wynonna! Wake up!”

Panic and dread settled at the pit of her stomach. Wynonna was not waking up, she can hear Dolls shouting instructions, gunfire and screams, and she was pinned down.

Just when their windshield was about the shatter, a figure walked in Waverly’s line of site. 

She was wearing a scarf around her face but Waverly can clearly see the fire red locks partially peeking out. There was a massive black dog beside her, beheading crows in one bite. She looked like those heroines you read in books, calm and dangerous. 

Waverly sees her tip her head towards the sky. By this time, it seems like all the crows attention was to the newest threat. She sees the crows swarming again, ready to dive towards the stranger but before they could reach her, a great wave of energy was released. Waverly gasped in shock, she could almost see the ripples in the air. 

In one silent moment, Waverly thought she was just imagining things but one by one, the birds started dropping from the sky, their bodies bent in different ways.

And as the last bird dropped from the sky, so did the stranger.


	2. Short Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dolls gives Nicole an offer she can't refuse

_ It’s the same nightmare again. Drowning and itchiness, white lab coats, and arguing.  _

 

_ Sometimes the dreams change, sometimes it’s her scared face calling for me, sometimes it’s me trying to catch up to her but never truly going anywhere, sometimes it’s just darkness… _

 

_ The last one is the worst _

 

_ Loneliness...truly crippling loneliness is the scariest hell of all _

 

The sunlight is harsh on her eyes and it takes her a minute to get her bearings. She’s lying down the cold tile, someone’s jacket is under her head, and Target is sitting beside her, ever the faithful watchdog.

 

Target whines when she tries to sit up, “Alright alright” she says, “I’m okay bud” patting the dog’s head.

 

“Good morning sleeping beauty” someone snarks above her, Nicole looks up to see a brunette woman in skin tight jeans and leather jacket leaning against the wall. The woman has scratches on her face “Had a great nap?”

 

“As good as expected. Where the hell am I?”

 

“Middle of butt-fuck nowhere. That’s not important. The million dollar question is what the fuck are you? And if the answer is anything but human, I am putting a bullet in your head”

 

Nicole couldn’t help but snort at the audacity of the woman, “Charming” she says deadpan, “That how you treat everyone that saves your ass?”

 

“Only the ones that make birds fall from the sky” Wynonna was still looking at Nicole expectantly when two other figures walk in the store. One was the petite woman she saw pinned in the car, and the other one…

 

Nicole couldn’t believe her eyes…

 

“Xavier Dolls, as I live and breathe” she gasped out.

 

The darker skinned man grinned when he saw her “You gave us quite the scare back there”, he walked towards the still sitting redhead, offering his arm so he could pull her up.

 

“Yo Dolls, you know this ginger?” Wynonna interrupts, eyeing them suspiciously. The woman beside her gasped indignantly, “Wynonna! Be nice!” the girl reprimands “Sorry about her, I’ve been teaching her manners but I guess it hasn’t stuck yet”

 

Nicole just smiled, the smaller woman was adorable.

 

Dolls looked at Nicole, a silent question in his eyes. When he saw her nod subtly, he said “This is First Lieutenant Nicole Haught of the U.S. Army. We met before...before the outbreak”

 

Wynonna’s eyes narrowed. She knew about Dolls’ military background, although the man wasn’t forthcoming, she knew enough to trust the guy with her sister. But this stranger? Wynonna isn’t sure about her. She also doesn’t like the way that her sister has been looking at the redhead.

 

“This is Target” she says, patting the dog’s head, trying to deflect attention from herself. The suspicion in Wynonna’s face isn’t exactly subtle, it was making Nicole uncomfortable. 

 

Waverly couldn’t help her smile, “Target?”, her interest was evident. 

 

“Yeah...I found him in one of those big Target grocery store and the name just stuck”

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“Dr. Gardner” Tucker was jolted out of his musings by an AI masquerading as a little girl. As if a sentient artificial intelligence wasn’t enough, someone just had to give it a 10 year old dead girl’s face. 

 

“What?” he all but snaps but the AI just gives him a blank stare until he urges her to continue, sometimes Tucker wonders if the AI is fucking with him, he wouldn’t put it past his sisters to program sass in an artificial intelligence just to annoy him.

 

“My sensors detected a peak is psionic activity, both alpha and beta waves”

 

The youngest Gardner sat up, his interest is clear “In the basement?”

 

“No, the activity isn’t from one of the clones. It occurred outside of the facility”

 

“Project Omega” 

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“How long has it been? Since Vegas?” Nicole muses once they were alone. Wynonna and Waverly left them to help bury their dead. 

 

“Almost five years” 

 

“And now look at you” Nicole grinned, “You look good, Major” 

 

“I wish I could say the same for you”

 

“Okay...ouch” the redhead says with a faux scowl “To be fair, I only had a dog for company in years. Target loved me for me” she jokes. 

 

“Why did you disappear, Nicole? We looked for you, after Vegas...everyone” Dolls paused after he said everyone and she knew what he meant. 

 

Nicole shook her head, trying to hold her tears back “you know why I had to leave...after...after what I did…” an image of her face pops up in her mind, a memory…a nightmare? she chokes a bit but manages to hold herself back “How could I have stayed?”

 

“And now?”

 

Nicole manages a snort, “You saw what I did. I’m still dangerous” 

 

“So you just keep running?” There was no judgement in Dolls’ voice, just understanding. 

 

“Yes, there’s nothing left to do”

 

“You can stay” Nicole’s eyes widened but Dolls remained stoic like he just didn’t offer something Nicole has been craving for the last 5 years “We need the manpower. Purgatory is defendable but we need people to defend it. It’s been years, maybe they’re not looking anymore”. Dolls’ words were tempting. It’s been so long since she had any human interaction, she’s surprised she even knows how to talk to one. 

 

In their silence, her eyes found soft brown eyes, Waverly gave her a soft smile and wave before her sister ushered her towards another task. 

 

“There’s no harm in living, Lieutenant Haught. After all that has happened, I think you deserve a reprieve...don’t you think?”

 

Nicole thinks Dolls knows her answer before she even opened her mouth. 

 

“Okay”

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“No, absolutely not” Wynonna’s voice was firm and hard, that’s how Waverly knows she means business. Wynonna is rarely firm about anything, “Look, no offense Haught-stuff. You’re great and we are abso-fucking grateful for sure but no. You stroll in with your mind power whatever and blows millions of birds out of the sky, that’s some crazy virus shit right there”

 

The group decided to stay in one of the buildings for the night and return to Purgatory in the morning. They were all exhausted with fighting the swarm and burying their dead.

 

Nicole, Dolls, Wynonna, Jeremy, and Waverly were in one of the rooms discussing the possibility of bringing the redhead to Purgatory. 

 

“I trust her...if that changes anything...nope? Okay. Shut up Jeremy...got it. Shutting up now”

 

Nicole couldn’t help but smile. Of all the things that changed, she loves that Jeremy hasn’t changed at all. She was honestly surprised to see the guy there, buried under a map as usual. Jeremy was also in Vegas when everything went down. 

 

“I’m sorry. Really. I have nothing against you but I’m not bringing anyone potentially dangerous near where my sister lives” 

 

“That’s what I told Dolls” Nicole says, her hands up in surrender. She ignores the way her heart breaks but she’ll deal with that later. She also will deal with the fact that she is acutely aware of the younger Earp staring at her.

 

“Nicole can be an asset” Dolls insisted “We need people. And also, Jeremy and I vouch for her. That should be enough”. 

 

“Usually it is but not this time”

 

“Wynonna” Dolls started, ready to start another argument before Waverly decided to out her two cents in “How about we just ask the Lieutenant more about her...powers. Once we understand, maybe we will be able to come to a decision” that seemed to shut everyone up. 

 

The redhead gulped when all eyes fall on her. 

 

“I’m afraid that is going to be a long story”

 

“We have all night, Haught-dog. Start blabbing”


	3. Ego sum totaliter stupet balls

Nicole felt like she was under a microscope, and since she actually has been under a microscope, this level of scrutiny is saying something. At least two of the other people in the group  already know her past, that should make it easy? Right? Although, the way that Wynonna has been thumbing her gun is making Nicole a tad bit anxious. 

 

“You don’t need to tell us everything about your past...just the reason you got your powers” Waverly said kindly, she lightly jabbed Wynonna in the stomach, urging her to calm down. 

 

Nicole gave her a small nod, thankful for the younger Earp. 

 

“I was the head of a intergovernmental task force ordered to guard a high-tech underground facility called the Hive. A massive laboratory developing experimental viral weaponry. An airborne virus released in the air made a lot of the inhabitants of that facility rabid. Not unlike the beginning stages of the virus you all are familiar with” Nicole paused to let Target settle down her lap, stroking his fur to calm herself down, she didn’t dare look at anyone “I was sent in to investigate. Contain the virus if possible, destroy evidence of what happened. But what I found there…” Nicole shook her head. 

 

_ Bodies _

 

_ Blood _

 

_ Surgical tools _

 

“It wasn’t right. I enlisted to help people not...not protect an institution that does that. So I gathered information about what happened. I was intent on releasing it to the public but somehow they got wind of what I was doing. Before I got out of the facility, they grabbed me and...and one other survivor.”

 

_ Her face _

 

_ Screaming for me _

 

“They transferred me to a facility. They thought killing me would be a waste of perfectly capable body so they strapped me to a bed and...well, you can imagine what happened next.”

 

Everyone was silent for a while, just the sound of Nicole’s hand stroking Target’s fur can be heard. 

 

“That’s hardcore” Wynonna eventually breathed out. She’s not an asshole, she does feel bad for the redhead, “How did you three meet then? Were they in the same facility?” because if Dolls is secretly harboring psychic voodoo power, she’s just gonna call it a day. 

 

“I met Dolls and Jeremy after I escaped. We were there during the Vegas incident”. 

 

“Holy shit. So you mean...when they sent in that missile to…” Wynonna made an explosion sound with her mouth “you guys were...?”

 

“We barely made it out alive” Jeremy says with a small voice. He probably was reliving that hell if the haunted look in his eyes is any indication. 

 

_ There was more to that story, of course. More involves a little girl, a doctor, a race against time, and a lot of pain. But that’s something Nicole isn’t ready to talk about yet.  _

 

“And the virus? That’s the thing that’s been turning your everyday joe into mindless fucking zombies?” 

 

Nicole nods tentatively, she wanted to say that they were technically not zombies, just feral people. They have to be dead to be considered a zombie. The virus simply melted their brains and reverted them back to their basic instincts: eat, kill, and spread the disease. 

 

“And you...how do you figure into all of these? How are you not feral?” Waverly asks, her voice small. 

 

“The virus did what it was supposed to with me and more. You have to understand, the virus wasn’t supposed to be a virus. It was a serum developed to create the perfect soldier. Faster, stronger, immune to disease and death, the perfect killing tool. It just didn’t take well to the average human body...they fucked up the formula or it was karma or bad luck or an accident, hell, I have no clue why it turned out the way it did.”

 

“Hold up” Wynonna interrupts “you’re saying that you were just...what? Lucky that your body adapted or was immune or whatever to the virus?”

 

Nicole snorted, “I wouldn’t call this luck. I’m immune, yes, and I have abilities, yes, but it also comes with a side of crippling trauma so...that has been fun” 

 

“But are you dangerous? Because I think you still haven’t answered the most important question”

 

Nicole should just say yes. She should just say yes and walk away. She’s not sure if they stopped looking for her. She isn’t sure she’s not going to do the same thing she did five years ago. They had enough problems of surviving until the next day to have her problems piled on top of that. But she thought of those 5 years, and about spending another five years alone. 

 

And in a moment of weakness…

 

“No...no I’m not. Not to you or your sister”

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

The night found Nicole sitting at the edge of the building rooftop. The conversation eventually died down when they saw the moon peeking out of the clouds. Wynonna finally agreed to let her come, provided that she goes on a trial basis. Even the snarky brunette couldn’t deny that they need able bodies.

 

“You can come closer, I don’t bite” Nicole muses, her tone amused. The redhead felt her presence almost as soon as she entered the floor.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t know if you wanted to be alone…” Waverly said apologetically.

 

“I’ve been alone for five years, I could use the company” she says, patting the space beside her. Target looks at Waverly for a moment before deeming her safe and laying back down with a huff. 

 

“Wynonna and Dolls are having a screaming match in the bedroom...I had to get out”

 

Nicole snorts, “Sorry about that”

 

“No no...don’t apologize for that. I actually agree with Dolls. Wynonna’s just being Wynonna. She’ll mellow out eventually” Waverly says dismissively like she hasn’t made Nicole’s heart flutter with her words, “Anyway, are you excited to see Purgatory tomorrow? I mean, it’s not anything special but it’s home…”

 

Nicole smiled and urged Waverly to continue talking. If she was being honest, she can listen to the younger girl talk forever.

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“I didn’t sign up for you knowing everything about my past, Wynonna. I am allowed to have a history”

 

“Not when that history is back and blowing shit up with her mind”

 

“Are you really mad about Nicole or about the fact that I asked you to live with me?”

 

Wynonna looked like Dolls just slapped her in the face, “I’m angry because when we hauled the redhead’s unconscious ass inside that god-awful store, you forgot to mention you KNOW her.”

 

“I didn’t mention knowing her because that would involve telling you HOW I know her and that’s her story to tell. Not mine, I was trying to respect her wishes. And you didn’t answer my question”

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“So let me get this straight, you were a bartender before the outbreak and your sister was a...marshall?”

 

Waverly giggled, “More like...bounty hunter? Nonna’s employment history is complicated”

 

“And you can speak six languages plus latin?” Nicole said in awe. 

 

“Ego sum totaliter stupet balls” Waverly repeats with a grin, “That’s latin for I’m totally amazeballs” 

 

The redhead shakes her head in amusement, “You know what, Ms. Earp? I don’t disagree”

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“I think we need to take a break” Dolls says eventually, looking away from the brunette.

 

Wynonna scoffs in disbelief, “Yeah, whatever”

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“I can show you around when we get there. I totally know all the cool places”

 

Nicole found herself smiling more than she had in years, “I would love that”


	4. Don't Stop for Anything, Baby

The icy tension the next day between Dolls and Wynonna was evident. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened the night before. Waverly resigned herself with hours of stewing in silence before she realized that Nicole doesn’t have a car. Grinning to herself, she skipped towards the parked vehicles, hoping to approach Nicole and make her offer before Dolls. 

 

Everyone is just finishing their breakfast and getting ready for their long drive back, she spies Nicole between two trucks, leaning down to pat Target while he eats. 

 

“Hey!” She greets warmly. Nicole looks up and smiles, her dimples showing.

 

“Good morning, Waverly Earp”

 

Waverly blushes prettily before recalling why she was looking for Nicole, “I was thinking...do you wanna hitch a ride with us back to Purgatory? My Jeep has a lot of space, for Target too” she offers.

 

“Sure” Nicole says, blushing at the speed by which she replied, “That would be great...thank you” she says, backtracking and trying to cover her eagerness to spend more time with the younger Earp.

 

Before they could talk further, Wynona sauntered in with a prominent scowl. Throwing the keys towards Waverly, she says “You’re driving. I need to sleep” and then throwing herself ungracefully at the back. 

 

“I guess you’re riding shotgun” Waverly says after a moment, jiggling her keys, a wide grin making its way in her face. 

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

The drive was actually pleasant. Wynonna didn’t protest when Target jumped beside her, instead, she just used the dog as her pillow and proceeded to snooze even before they pulled out of the parking space. 

 

They were in their 2nd hour of driving, they had to take an alternate route due to some infected roaming the street. Over the years, Waverly realized that some infected had migratory tendencies similar that of birds. It made predicting their presence in some areas easy, however, it does pose the problem of them appearing randomly in previously infected-free routes. 

 

Waverly found that the redhead was a great conversationalist so the added time due to the alternate route wasn’t a big pain. They had a lot of things to talk about and more importantly, Nicole is an avid listener.  She contributed enthusiastically to the conversation, didn’t roll her eyes when Waverly talks about history like most other (*scoff* Champ *scoff*), and asked intelligent questions. 

 

In short, Waverly was having the time of her life. She should have known that the other shoe is about to drop, it usually does when there were experiencing any semblance of peace. 

 

To be fair, this is the first time Waverly felt like this. A level of distraction was to be expected. 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Tucker felt anger coursing through his veins, “What do you mean no?” he snarled, “This is Project Omega. She is vital to my research, without her we have no way of replicating any kind of cure.”

 

Beth and Mercedes Gardner studied their brother intently. He was always so obsessive about his little projects and more often than not, they tolerated it but he has been draining resources left and right since the world turned to shit. They could only tolerate so much. 

 

“How sure are you?”

 

“70%” Tucker replied eagerly.

 

“Not good enough. Get me to a 100 and then we’ll talk. As of now, stand down” Mercedes says, her tone left no room for an argument before turning off the conference call before Tucker could reply.

 

“Bitch” Tucker muttered under his breath. 

______________________________________________________________________

 

“HELP PLEASE”

 

Nicole tensed in her seat, her hands shooting to grip Waverly’s arm. There was a man in the street a few yards out, calling for help.

 

“Keep going” she warns.

 

Waverly’s eyes shot up in confusion, “What? Why? We have to help him”

 

“Keep going, Waverly. Do it. Don’t stop” she says, pulling out a pistol.

 

“Nicole?” but before she can even do anything, Nicole’s hand pressed on Waverly’s right leg, pinning her foot on the gas pedal and accelerating the car. She shrieked in shock when the car jolted forward, the man had no choice but to dive out of the way.

 

It wasn’t long before Waverly understood why Nicole didn’t allow her to stop. It wasn’t soon after the man dived out of the way when multiple men shot out of hiding and started shooting.

 

Wynonna jolted awake, “FUCK” she screams, covering her head to avoid the bullets.

 

Waverly swerved dangerously, sending the car tipping sideways before correcting itself and zooming down the street. She looked at her side mirror to see that the other half of the convoy managed to reverse to avoid the gunfire, however, that meant all of the ambush party directed their focus on Waverly’s jeep. 

 

It was evident that the ambush was planned because they soon found themselves weaving their way across a maze of cars and debris with a couple of dozen men after them, shouting in glee.

 

“Fucking raiders” Wynonna hissed before firing a couple of bullets out the window. 

 

“Keep going, Waverly” Nicole encouraged, “Don’t stop for anything”

 

Well, anything apparently doesn’t involve a tank. The building wall on Waverly’s side blew open, Waverly swerved in shock, nearly colliding with an overturned fireman’s truck. 

 

“Is that a fucking tank?” Wynonna asked in disbelief, “Who the fuck are these people?”

 

Waverly yelped when her back tire blew, the steering wheel moving on it’s own. She soon lost control of the car and crashing through an old building entrance. Glass shattered and cement rained down on them. 

 

Nicole regained her composure faster than the other two, grabbing her gun and backpack, she jumped out of the car and ushered the two sisters and her dog behind the cash counter. Wynonna has a nasty cut on her forehead and Waverly looks like she’s about to hurl but they looked relatively okay given the circumstances. 

 

“Shit” Wynonna cursed, her eyes finding Nicole. They both know that it would be a matter of minutes before they would be surrounded, “We need to get out of here”.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Tucker looked behind him to make sure no one was around before accessing his sister’s terminal. 

 

“Are you sure that is wise, Dr. Gardner?” The voice of the AI made him jump in shock.

 

“God damn it! Must you be so silent?” he grouched, “and this is none of your business so fuck off”

 

“It is actually my business since you are accessing my database with a passcode that is not yours”

 

“I have alpha command and I can do as I please. So you will speak of this to no one or so help me, I will find your core and erase you”

 

The AI looked almost annoyed before nodding, “Very well”

______________________________________________________________________

 

Nicole feels the neck snap before she heard it. Gently, she let the body fall down the ground with a soft thud. Taking the guy’s gun from him, they made their way out of the building. 

 

They left the car soon after they took their things. Nicole hears the men spread out to look for them and the four of them slowly made their way towards the back exit. Target knew Nicole enough to sense the danger around them, he took point beside Nicole while Wynonna guarded their rear. 

 

They see a series of apartment buildings connected by planks of wood and stairs, this place must have been a settlement once upon a time. They ducked in to avoid the roaming men. 

 

“You okay, baby girl?” Wynonna asks once they were inside, making their way up the staircase.

 

“Yeah yeah, m’fine” Waverly says, distracted with her beating heart. 

 

“How did you know we were about to be ambushed?” Waverly asked suddenly, eyeing the redhead as she peeked over the wall, gun ready. Deeming it safe, she continued her way down the hall, the other two behind her.

 

“The guy didn’t have any visible injury, didn’t have anything with him, no sign of a weapon, no infected around him, nothing and yet he was on the floor, screaming for help.” Nicole answered absentmindedly, still focused on her surroundings, “It was also quiet around him. We were surrounded by a forest but you can’t hear any birds. Means there were others around the area that scared away the wildlife. If it was the infected then the man would be dead with all the ruckus he was making.”

 

“Okay wow, haught-cakes, neat trick” 

 

Waverly agreed with Wynonna’s awe, ignoring the way her core throbbed at Nicole’s display of deductive intelligence. 

 

“You’re never gonna stop with the name puns, are you?”

 

Wynonna just shot her a cheshire grin. 

 

If this is Wynonna mellowing out then Nicole thinks she doesn’t care much for it.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Tucker stood in front of the woman wearing skin tight black leather. She cut an imposing figure; tall and intimidating. Her dark-skin is flawless, short black hair is glossy. 

 

“Her name is Nicole Haught. Find her and bring her to me, alive. Is that understood?” Tucker says, holding up a picture of a redhead in military fatigues.

 

The woman just stared at him blankly before nodding her head, the spider-like device attached to her chest gleams under the harsh fluorescent light. 

 

“Perfect” Tucker grins, the AI behind him frowns.

  
  
  



End file.
